Gooner Daily

Picture this scenario…

It’s 10.30 pm on a Friday night and you’re really in the mood to get some alcohol into your system. You get dressed, pick up your keys and head straight to Elegushi beach. You start with a bottle of Moet before running into a couple of friends on a strict Hennessey diet. Another friend comes along and buys a bottle of Grey Goose Vodka and shortly afterwards, you end your drink-fest with some Absolut Vodka.

With all these fluids in your system and no chick to …, you get your drunk ass on your bed and we all know what comes next…

A friggin’ H.A.N.G.O.V.E.R

Converting this footballing terms, Per Mertesacker’s header was my Hennessey, Lukas Podolski’s fictitious finish was my Moet, Olivier Giroud’s low drive was my Grey Goose, Santi Cazorla’s tap in was my Absolut Vodka and Theo Walcott’s placed effort was my Novo.

Even if the North London derby took place on Saturday, the flames set ablaze from that fixture hasn’t been doused yet. From an Arsenal perspective, the game allowed the Gunners to express themselves to their faithful fans in the best possible fashion.

There were many stand-out performers for the Gunners and they have been in the news as well. Sticking with the goalscorers in the order at which they decimated Tottenham, Mertesacker has expressed his delight in scoring his first goal for Arsenal in the North London derby.

Mertesacker acknowledged that his team went to sleep at the beginning and Emmanuel Adebayor’s red card might have played a role in his team’s resurgence. The Big Friendly Giant has been a phenom this season and he has settled well into the heart of the Arsenal defense, becoming synonymous with first-team football this season.

Lukas Podolski has been immense in his first season at the Emirates and he has supplied his fair share of goals and assists thus far, making him an indispensable player in the team. However, I still wonder what the German forward must do to finish a game, because the amount of times I’ve seen Podolski’s number on the fourth official’s board is no different from the amount of chances Emile Heskey is liable to miss in a game.

Before Podolski made the left flank his for keeps, many Gunners have played admirably in that position, and one can look no further than Robert Pires, that was a constant threat down the left alongside Ca$hley Cuntly Cole. Pires holds Podolski in high regard and the Frenchman believes that Podolski will be a legend at the Emirates.

Olivier Giroud has found his feet in the right time and everyone can see that the goalscoring floodgates have opened as well. Giroud is pleased to have made his mark in the North London derby but he was a bit sympathetic to his compatriot, Hugo Lloris, that shipped in five goals for the Spuds.

Giroud will play his former employers, Montpellier, on Wednesday and I’m sure that he’ll get a rousing reception from the small faction of the French away fans that would visit the Emirates. I’m also tipping Giroud to score but I believe that if he scores, his celebration would be like this,

Santi Cazorla scored the fourth goal that put the game beyond Tottenham’s reach after some intricate passing play from the Gunners. I’m pretty sure that Cazorla is the forerunner for the Signing of the Season award and I must commend Wenger for his vision in snapping the little magician from Malaga.

Jack Wilshere has run out of superlatives for his new teammate but he also stated that Cazorla is different from Cesc Fabregas,

“He was different class today. His touch, his vision is a joke. He’s a dream to play with. He never gives the ball away and he’s creative, he’s busy around the pitch [and] he’s a joy to play with.

“It’s great to have him in the team. A lot of people said they didn’t know about him before, but I’ve heard of him for a few years now. He’s a great player and when you’ve got someone like that in your team, who’s going to bring you in, you just want to get out there.”

“For me he’s a different player to Cesc – Cesc is more of a passer. I think with Santi, he can pick the ball [up and] he can beat a player. He’s got a great shot on him. I think he’s just different class and he’s great to play with.”

Wilshere isn’t the only individual that has been overawed by Cazorla’s brilliance this season – the list is endless; Cazorla’s teammates, Arsene Wenger, the Board, the fans, pundits and media Vultures alike. Wilshere also admitted that a top four finish won’t be a stroll in the park this season, as West Brom, Newcastle, Tottenham and Everton are on the prowl.

Moving over to transfer news, the World’s best Striker, Nicklas Bendtner, has taken some time off Juventus’ bench to talk to some media Vultures about Arsenal. Bendtner has clearly seen that the grass isn’t greener on the other side and he has declared that he’s open to an Arsenal return.

Despite Bendtner’s big mouth and cocky attitude, I won’t mind having NB 52 back at Arsenal for the following reasons,

•  His goal-to-game ratio at Arsenal is quite impressive, considering the fact that he’s not a first team regular. In every season he played for Arsenal bar his first (where he was away on loan at Birmingham), Bendtner closed in on double figures and he surpassed the mark twice with 15 goals (2008/09) and 12 goals (2009/10)
• He has never said anything negative about Arsenal, its manager or his fellow teammates even securing a move to Sunderland and more recently, Juventus. Yes, he has some off field issues but he doesn’t seem to have any problem with teammates or anything too disruptive (think Balotelli).
• In the 2010/11 season, he scored nine goals and raked up five assists despite playing on the wing, and usually playing only the final 15 minutes when the team was already losing.  He is way better than Chamakh, and I’d take him over the Moroccan anyday, anytime.

 Arsene Wenger has the final say on Bendtner’s situation and we will have to wait till the summer to see how things pan out.

The Denchster, Emmanuel Frimpong, has joined Charlton Athletic on loan, till January 2013. The holding midfielder did really well to recover from a cruciate ligament injury he suffered last season from a Joey Barton tackle. Frimpong intends to use this opportunity to get some much-needed playing time and he also hopes that he would join the likes of Jack Wilshere, Alex Song and Ashley Cole who have all enjoyed successful spells in the Arsenal team after completing loan spells away from the club.

Finally, I’m proud to announce that your daily Arsenal digest, Gooner Daily, has won the award for the Best Sports blog in this year’s Nigerian Blog Awards.

The Nigerian Blog Awards were launched in 2010 to recognize excellence in blogging by Nigerians or by non-Nigerians who blog about Nigeria.

I’m really proud to receive this award and I want to thank my esteemed readers for being there from Day 1 till date. For those that don’t know, Gooner Daily turns two next week.

Special shoutouts go to @dKingpin and @Obitwyce for their endless support from the start till today. You guys rock!!!

Sayonara.

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